Tanzania

2013

Nairobi, September
30, 2013--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a decision
by Tanzanian authorities to suspend two leading private Swahili dailies on accusations
of sedition. The government issued a
statement on Friday suspending Mwananchi and MTanzania
for 14 and 90 days respectively.

The Tanzanian government enjoys good
international publicity for transparency, but news of public discontent is not
being heard. A spike in anti-press attacks is sowing fear and self-censorship
among journalists. A CPJ special report
by Tom Rhodes

The African Union's special rapporteur on freedom
of expression and access to information, Commissioner Pansy Tlakula,
has launched an auspicious initiative in East Africa to counter criminal defamation
and sedition laws. Since independence, authorities and business interests in
the East and Horn region have used criminal laws on sedition, libel, and insult--often
relics of former, colonial administrations--to silence their critics in the
press. "Criminal defamation laws are nearly always used to punish legitimate
criticism of powerful people, rather than protect the right to a reputation,"
Tlakula said in a statement.

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Dear President Obama: Ahead of your first trip to East Africa, we would like to bring to your attention the deteriorating state of press freedom in Tanzania. In your meetings with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, we ask that you discuss the critical importance of press freedom to economic development and democracy.

The Pan African Parliament's (PAP) launch of a media freedom
campaign through a "Dialogue on Media Freedom in Africa" in mid-May marks an
important and welcome starting point. For too long, media freedom has been
divorced from the debate around development and democratization when it has an
integral role to play in promoting transparency, underpinning good governance,
and enabling citizens to make informed decisions.

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Nairobi, March 7,
2013--Authorities in Tanzania must immediately investigate a vicious attack
on a veteran journalist in Dar es Salaam, the capital, on Tuesday night, the
Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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A journalist was killed in the line of duty in September, the first Tanzanian work-related fatality documented by CPJ in the 20 years it has kept detailed records. Police attacked veteran TV reporter Daudi Mwangosi, who was shot point-blank with a tear-gas canister and died at the scene, witnesses said. Mwangosi, of the private Channel 10 station, had confronted officers over the arrest of another journalist during an opposition rally, news reports said. The authorities arrested a junior officer in connection with the killing, but they didn’t pursue at least six other officers thought to be associated with the death, according to a report released by the independent Media Council of Tanzania. The government can use 17 repressive, media-related statutes to crack down on critical coverage. Under the Newspaper Act of 1976, the information ministry indefinitely banned the Swahili-language weekly MwanaHalisi in July on vague charges of sedition and false reporting in unspecified articles. The paper’s chief editor, Jabir Idrissa, said he suspected the publication was targeted for its coverage of a physicians’ strike in the country and the abduction and torture of Steven Ulimboka, a doctor leading the strikers. Reports from MwanaHalisi had suggested the authorities were involved in the attack on Ulimboka, but the government denied the allegations, news reports said.